RCPCH brochure (a/w)
14/4/10
Section Three
15:13
Page 22
Key Principles & Values
Safeguarding Children and Young People Safeguarding describes the broader preventative and precautionary approach to planning procedures that need to be in place to protect children and young people from any potential harm. It is imperative that any project involving children and young people is safe and doesn’t put them at risk of being harmed or in a vulnerable situation where they feel pressurised to do things that they feel uncomfortable with. On the contrary, a participation activity should increase children and young people’s confidence in expressing their views in ways they choose. Section 11 of the Children Act 2004 places a statutory duty on key people and bodies to make arrangements to safeguard and promote the welfare of children. The statutory guidance on the duty, which was first issued in 2005, has been updated. The revised version was published in April 2007. Part one of the guidance sets out the arrangements that are likely to be common to all or most of the agencies concerned. Part two deals with implementation in each particular agency to which the section 11 duty applies. These arrangements require all agencies to have: • senior management commitment to the importance of safeguarding and promoting children's welfare; • a clear statement of the agency's responsibilities towards children, available for all staff; • a clear line of accountability within the organisation for work on safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children; • service development that takes account of the need to safeguard and promote welfare, and is informed, where appropriate, by the views of children and families; • training on safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children for all staff working with, or in contact with, children and families; • safe recruitment procedures in place; • effective inter-agency working to safeguard and promote the welfare of children; • effective information sharing; • a local safeguarding policy available to, and accessible by, children and young people. The guidance on the duty to cooperate is part of an interlocking set of guidance on the Children Act 2004. (Department for Children, Schools and Families 2006). All adults who have contact with children and young people (depending on the level of contact) may need to have a CRB (Criminal Records Bureau) check either a standard or enhanced check
22
Positive Environment The ethos and culture of the environment is crucial in enabling children and young people to participate. The environment should also be safe, age-appropriate and accessible for children and young people with a range of disabilities. The Disability Discrimination Act 1995, 2005 requires service providers to make ‘reasonable’ adjustments for a disabled person to access a service. The active involvement of young people with disabilities is important and to promote disability equality and involve disabled children and young people in participation activities extra resources may be required. Safeguarding procedures enable us to develop a safe and positive environment for children and young people where there is no negligence or unnecessary exposure to avoidable risks. Where risks need to be taken policies should ensure that they are calculated, carefully managed and communicated to both children, young people, their parents, carers and staff. Involving children and young people will help to promote an environment where their welfare is paramount and should help to develop a culture of inclusion, honesty, openness and mutual respect. It will help children and young people recognise that they have a voice and that their views are important and valued. This will make it more likely that they will feel able to raise any worries or concerns appropriately. It will be important to be aware of the cultural and ethical diversity of the local population to help all young people to feel safe to take part. Faith and culture can be very important to children and young people’ identity and often helps to influence their sense of belonging to any society or can make them feel isolated and different. Lack of awareness may lead to inadvertent prejudicial attitudes and exclude them rather than help bring down barriers enabling equality of access to health services.